


Hoping Too Late

by thatcrazywriterley



Series: The Too Late Tales [37]
Category: AEW, All Elite Wrestling, BTE - Fandom, Being The Elite (Web Series), Young Bucks-Fandom
Genre: Multi, Planning for a Family, brothers share a wife, but of course Nick is unsure, kids are on the horizon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:28:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28173945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatcrazywriterley/pseuds/thatcrazywriterley
Summary: Reader, Matt, and Nick have a conversation about kids--before and after the events of the wedding.
Relationships: Matt Jackson/Reader, Matt Jackson/Reader/Nick Jackson, Nick Jackson/Reader
Series: The Too Late Tales [37]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695274
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Hoping Too Late

_(GIF owned by adampage on Tumblr)_

I would never get enough of the days that Matt and Nick were home from running loops. Sometimes, it felt like I only saw them a week for every month. It had certainly taken some getting used to, and, early on, Matt had promised me he would understand if the life were too much for me. That alone had been enough for me to work hard to keep our relationship together. It didn’t hurt that I knew the moment I lost Matt, I would lose Nick, too.

But that had been over a year ago, and Matt and I were two months away from getting married. I’d gotten used to the long absences, training myself to be awake at any given time based on where they were so I could talk to them. FaceTime conversations were a multi-time a day occurrence. The boys shared a room to save money, so sometimes Matt and I spoke in whispers while he sat on the edge of the bathtub.

Almost as soon as he proposed, we started talking about our future plans. Matt’s proposal had taken place on the roof of his apartment complex, but he was desperately certain that we would have a _real_ home when we married. He and Nick went looking, searched for a few months, and then decided to buy houses right next to one another. Matt wanted it to be a surprise, but Nick snuck some pictures of the house. I fell in love with it the second I saw it. And, guiltily, I was secretly desperately happy that the younger Jackson would be so close.

But buying a house wasn’t the only thing Matt wanted to talk about. We spent hours thinking and talking about what our life would be like. Not long after we started dating, Matt insisted that I be the one to design their shirts and other merchandise. Nick would joke and say that they were making more money on merch now than they did before they met me. It was a fun use of my art degree, and I loved seeing the boys so happy with the things I came up with. The family business was booming… just without the _family_.

I’d spent a long time thinking about marriage and family and everything that came with it. The more I let the idea simmer in the back of my mind, the more I found myself wanting everything—the house, toys spread all over the place, kids with their mess, their stress—more than I’d ever wanted anything before. My dreams were suddenly taken over with the image of cherubic babies with Matt’s dark hair and laughing eyes.

***

It was a few days before the wedding, and the three of us were sitting at a table on the patio of Cheesecake Factory. My mother, sister, brother-in-law, and niece were in town, and it felt as if we were hurtling toward the wedding day. I couldn’t explain it, but I had a deep desperation to keep Nick close. There was a cloud hanging over me, as if the moment Matt and I said _I do_ Nick would no longer be part of my life. It didn’t matter that I knew—logically at least—that he would always be around. But it wouldn’t be the same.

I snuck a forkful of the raspberry swirl cheesecake on Nick’s plate and grinned. “Have you got your speech ready?”

He smiled back and pushed the plate toward me. His eyes were bright and crisp, a blue like chips of ice. “I’m going to wing it. Might even cut a promo on you two.”

Matt laughed and leaned back in his chair. He reached over and took my hand in his. “Make sure you mention the family business. And the family that’s coming, too.”

Nick sputtered his drink, coughing hard. “Excuse me?”

I felt the heat burn all over my face. My heart smashed against my ribs. Matt looked perfectly serene as he smiled at his brother. “Mom and Dad are itching for grandkids. And I wouldn’t mind having a kid or two.”

Matt’s fingers slid up my wrist and along my forearm. A shiver went up my spine, and I knew my face was burning even more brightly than before. I nipped my lip and glanced up at Nick, my stomach turning sideways as I saw the look in his blue eyes.

_Nick_

I didn’t know what to say. Honestly, I couldn’t find the words to describe the thoughts going through my head at that moment. Matt had always talked about wanting kids. It was an easy thing for him to imagine. Theoretically, I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that Y/N and Matt would have kids someday. But that had always been that kind of far away possibility. Not something that would be happening anytime soon.

Y/N’s face was bright red, and she didn’t want to look at me. Her eyes were turned away, the color creeping down her throat in splotches. I watched her draw her bottom lip between her teeth. She was so completely beautiful that it hurt. More so because I knew that that I would never be able to tell her.

Before I could stop myself, my thoughts conjured up an image of her that I knew I would never forget. I saw her, backlit from sun streaming through a huge window, gauzy dress fluttering around her body. Her hair hung in soft curls against her shoulders, the light making it seem as if she had a halo around her head. Every care and edge of her was smoothed into an ethereal image of her with her hands cradled protectively around her stomach, round and full with the child that grew inside her.

My heart squeezed so hard that it nearly choked me. Acidic tears burned my eyes as a mix of sadness and wistfulness ran through me. The sheer beauty of the image made me feel as if my chest was going to crack open with the force of my emotion. I couldn’t deny that I wanted to see Y/N beautiful and glowingly pregnant.

But I would never admit that I wished it was mine.

_Matt_

Y/N blushed so red that I was sure I could have toasted a marshmallow from the heat coming off her face. Goosebumps rose along her arms, following the trail of my fingers along her flesh. She was beautiful in her embarrassment, although I couldn’t honestly understand why. We’d talked for months about what we wanted our future to be. She’d been the one to bring up kids, to talk names and dreams of a house full of our children.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise that we’d talk about it with Nick. He was my brother, my best friend. And they had long been best friends too. Why was she so shy about talking about it in front of him?

I turned my attention from my wife-to-be to my brother. Nick was watching her with a strange sort of awe. His eyes were glued to her face. There was something about the way that he looked at her—a strange mix of sadness and peace and wistfulness and happiness. Nick’s fingers clenched into a fist before he drew a deep breath and forced them to relax. I watched the way he tapped them against the tabletop, each movement seeming to draw his hand closer to hers unconsciously.

For a moment, my brother looked as if he were about to be sick. He drew another deep breath and swallowed hard. Then he smiled. “Promise you’ll name your son after me?”

Y/N laughed nervously, tucking her hair behind her ears. I slid my fingers between hers. “Of course.”

***

We’d been married for less than forty-eight hours when Matt tugged me down on the hotel sofa between him and Nick. The memory of that first night—and yesterday, and last night, and this morning—made me feel warm and happy. Nick gathered me back against his chest, wrapping his arms around me. He nuzzled his nose along the side of my neck before leaving warm kisses below the curve of my jaw just under my ear. Matt turned sideways to look at the two of us, a contented smile settling on his lips.

“Are you happy?” Matt asked, reaching out to stroke his fingertips along my cheek. The pad of his thumb swept the flesh of my lower lip. I fought the urge to lick my lips and flick my tongue against his thumb. His brown eyes darkened, pupils dilating slightly, as if he knew exactly what was going on in my head. “Honestly?”

I grinned until I thought my face would crack in half. “Happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life.”

Nick’s arms tightened around me as he kissed me again. He settled his hands low on my belly as he nuzzled against my shoulder. He gathered me close in a way that made my heart skip a beat in my chest.

“I know we’ve talked about it before—you and me—but…” Matt said nervously, running his hand over his hair. I watched him tug at the strands caught up in the knot at the back of his head. “But I think we should talk about it again. Since there’s three of us involved with this now.”

“What is it?” I asked frantically, feeling a weight settle deep in the pit of my stomach. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, Sunshine,” Nick whispered against my throat. “Nothing’s wrong, we promise.”

The ache in my chest settled. “Then what…?”

Matt moved closer until I was caught between the two of them. His palm cradled my cheek. A small, mischievous, hopeful smile tipped the corners of his mouth upward. Nick’s fingers drew gentle patterns on the flesh beneath his hands. The warmth of his breath settled against my throat as he rested his chin against my shoulder.

“You wanted to have a family once… we me,” Matt said quietly. His brown eyes softened in question. As if he thought that I’d changed my mind. His gaze flicked to the side, settled on his brother. “Things have changed since then.”

“I’ll understand if you want to keep it that way,” Nick murmured, his voice sad and faint. “I promised you I won’t get int the way, and I meant it. Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy.”

I turned in Nick’s arms before I gave myself time to think. Matt’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he moved back to give me room. My fingers cradled Nick’s jaw, forcing him to look me in the eyes. “How could you think that? I love both of you more than you could ever know. You’ve given me the chance to have everything I’ve ever wanted. What makes you think that doesn’t include children? With _both_ of you?”

I heard Matt chuckle from behind me and turned to see him grinning at Nick. “He’s stubborn. And he needed to hear it from you.”

My arms slipped around Nick, pulling him close to that I could whisper in his ear. I reminded him of that first night—the wedding night—and how I thought I’d made myself clear with my intentions. Heat rushed into me at the memory of the first time he touched me, the first time he kissed me without guilt or shyness.

“And, if all else fails, we can have a lot of fun trying…”


End file.
